Joseph chamberlain essay

The Civilizing Mission Joseph Chamberlain, from "The True Conception of Empire" Joseph Chamberlain — was a manufacturer who made his fortune at age thirty-eight and spent the rest of his life in politics, mostly allying himself with radical causes.

We began to be, and we ultimately became, a great Imperial Power in the eighteenth century, but, during the greater part of that time, the colonies were regarded, not only by us, but by every European Power that possessed them, as possessions valuable in proportion to the pecuniary advantage which they brought to the mother country, which, under that order of ideas, was not truly a mother at all, but appeared rather in the light of a grasping and absentee landlord desiring to take from his tenants the utmost rents he could exact.

The colonies were valued and maintained because it was thought that they would be a source of profit—of direct profit—to the mother country. That was the first stage, and when we were rudely awakened by the War of Independence in America from this dream, that the colonies could be held for our profit alone, the second chapter was entered upon, and public opinion seems then to have drifted to the opposite extreme; and, because the colonies were no longer a source of revenue, it seems to have been believed and argued by many people that their separation from us was only a matter of time, and that that separation should be desired and encouraged lest haply they might prove an encumbrance and a source of weakness.

Partly by the efforts of this Institute and similar organisations, partly by the writings of such men as Froude and Seeley— hear, hear —but mainly by the instinctive good sense and patriotism of the people at large, we have now reached the third stage in our history, and the true conception of our Empire.

The English politician Joseph Chamberlain () influenced the fate of the Liberal party and then of the Conservative party. He has been described as one of Britain's first "professional" politicians. Joseph Chamberlain () was a British politician in the Liberal Party, which promoted laissez-faire policies. Chamberlain was an advocate of the British Empire. He gave this speech on "The True Conception of Empire" to the Royal Colonial Institute in when he was Colonial Secretary in the British government. Joseph Chamberlain can be rightly termed as the father of imperialism. Imperialism was the policy of acting as a nation's authority figure or leader, and by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations.

What is that conception? As regards the selfgoverning colonies we no longer talk of them as dependencies. The sense of possession has given place to the sentiment of kinship.

We think and speak of them as part of ourselves— cheers —as part of the British Empire, united to us, although they may be dispersed throughout the world, by ties of kindred, of religion, of history, and of language, and joined to us by the seas that formerly seemed to divide us.

But the British Empire is not confined to the selfgoverning colonies and the United Kingdom.

It includes a much greater area, a much more numerous population in tropical climes, where no considerable European settlement is possible, and where the native population must always vastly outnumber the white inhabitants; and in these cases also the same change has come over the Imperial idea.

We feel now that our rule over these territories can only be justified if we can show that it adds to the happiness and prosperity of the people— cheers —and I maintain that our rule does, and has, brought security and peace and comparative prosperity to countries that never knew these blessings before.

In carrying out this work of civilisation we are fulfilling what I believe to be our national mission, and we are finding scope for the exercise of those faculties and qualities which have made of us a great governing race. I do not say that our success has been perfect in every case, I do not say that all our methods have been beyond reproach; but I do say that in almost every instance in which the rule of the Queen has been established and the great Pax Britannica has been enforced, there has come with it greater security to life and property, and a material improvement in the condition of the bulk of the population.

No doubt, in the first instance, when these conquests have been made, there has been bloodshed, there has been loss of life among the native populations, loss of still more precious lives among those who have been sent out to bring these countries into some kind of disciplined order, but it must be remembered that that is the condition of the mission we have to fulfil.

I remember a picture by Mr. Selous of a philanthropist—an imaginary philanthropist, I will hope—sitting cosily by his fireside and denouncing the methods by which British civilisation was promoted. This philanthropist complained of the use of Maxim [machine] guns and other instruments of warfare, and asked why we could not proceed by more conciliatory methods, and why the impis of Lobengula could not be brought before a magistrate, fined five shillings, and bound over to keep the peace.

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No doubt there is humorous exaggeration in this picture, but there is gross exaggeration in the frame of mind against which it was directed. You cannot have omelettes without breaking eggs; you cannot destroy the practices of barbarism, of slavery, of superstition, which for centuries have desolated the interior of Africa, without the use of force; but if you will fairly contrast the gain to humanity with the price which we are bound to pay for it, I think you may well rejoice in the result of such expeditions as those which have recently been conducted with such signal success— cheers —in Nyassaland, Ashanti, Benin, and Nupe—expeditions which may have, and indeed have, cost valuable lives, but as to which we may rest assured that for one life lost a hundred will be gained, and the cause of civilisation and the prosperity of the people will in the long run be eminently advanced.

But no doubt such a state of things, such a mission as I have described, involve heavy responsibility.

In the wide dominions of the Queen the doors of the temple of Janus are never closed— hear, hear —and it is a gigantic task that we have undertaken when we have determined to wield the sceptre of empire. Great is the task, great is the responsibility, but great is the honour— cheers ; and I am convinced that the conscience and the spirit of the country will rise to the height of its obligations, and that we shall have the strength to fulfil the mission which our history and our national character have imposed upon us.

The Brooklyn Museum and The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston both purchased significant works in watercolor by John Singer Sargent. Sargent only participated in two major watercolor exhibitions in the United States during his lifetime .

John Ruskin's "Imperial Duty" and Joseph Chamberlain's "The True Conception of Empire" are more concerned with British imperial rights and duties than the "white man's burden" in general.

Compare their nationalist argument to Kipling's racial one. The Civilizing Mission. Joseph Chamberlain, from "The True Conception of Empire" () Joseph Chamberlain (–) was a manufacturer who made his fortune at age thirty-eight and spent the rest of his life in politics, mostly allying himself with radical causes.

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The True Conception of Empire by Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain was a British politician and statesman. During his early adulthood he was a radical Liberal Party member and a campaigner for educational reform under the Victorian era which promoted glory of the monarchy.

Chamberlain's Policy Toward Germany - Chamberlain's Policy Toward Germany Appeasement is the term used to describe the foreign policies of the British Conservative governments of Baldwin () and Chamberlain () and also those of France and America to a lesser extent.

Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jacob Liebmann Beer; 5 September – 2 May ) was a German opera composer of Jewish birth who has been described as perhaps the most successful stage composer of the nineteenth century.

With his opera Robert le diable and its successors, he gave the genre of grand opera 'decisive character'. .